THE PA MELTING POT: SPECIAL: July holidays 2015

PHOTOS BELOW COPY:

THE MELTING POT: SPECIAL COLUMN: THREE JULY CELEBRATIONS

                                                                                                                           

Just as we celebrate our Independence Day on July 4th this year the citizens of Canada celebrate their equivalent, Canada Day (their independence from England), on July 1st and the French celebrate their Bastille Day on July 14th.  All of these celebrations incorporate fireworks, parades and foods into their fests. 

The Canadians have always been an important part of American history and have been emigrating here since 1850.  There is no accurate count but they came in the millions over a several year period.  33,000-55,000 Canadians fought in our Civil War.  We share two borders; the extensive bilateral trade is $2 billion a day and 300,000 people cross the borders every day.

Some of the foods prepared for Canada Day (July 1 – independence from Britain) could be:  Beef or Bison Kabobs with Great Canadian Steak Spice,  Tomatillo Salsa for Avocados (Mexican), Tzatziki on grilled meats (Greek and Turkish yoghurt based sauce), Canada Day Cake (strawberry maple-leaf flag cake), Chai (Indian) Mango Lemonade, Chicken Sandwich on a Pita, Cold Buttermilk Fried Chicken Drumsticks, Cookies and Cream Torte (French), Curried Lentil, Wild Rice and Orzo Salad (Indian and Far Eastern), Garlicky Prime Rib and Rosemary Rack of Pork, Green Bean and Barley Salad, Grilled Balsamic Vegetables, Kimchi Slaw (Korean), Maple Buttermilk Grilled Chicken  and Maple Leaf Sugar Cookies.

During the 1790s, as a result of the French Revolution, numerous voluntary and forced exiles sought asylum in several American eastern cities and became an integral part of our society.  Bastille Day is celebrated in France to celebrate the storming of the Bastille prison housing many political prisoners of the monarchy in 1789.  And of course like the Canadians and Americans they celebrate with fireworks and food!!  

Some of foods prepared might be Canard À L'Orangina (orange duck), Steak Tartare (raw steak prepared with shallots, cornichons and tons of fresh herbs),  Bouillabaisse (classic seafood dish from Marseille),  Pan Bagnat (sandwich stuffed with Salade Niçoise ingredients like summer tomatoes, tuna and olives and packed into a solid, crusty French bread), Tarte l’Oignon (onion tart), Pissaladiere (a Nicoise pizza of caramelized onions, anchovies), le français yogourt gâteau (French yoghurt cake) and, of course, French cheeses with Baguettes. 

What did the Americans eat in the 18th century?  Entertainment took place in the tavern:  An "elegant entertainment" for 24 in 1786, for example, consisted of turtle soup,  boned turk,ey, roast duck, veal, beef, jellies, puddings, pies, preservs, almonds, raisins, nuts, apples and oranges.  Beverages included Madeira wine, English porter (beer), punch, brandy and bitters.  Common "everyday foods" in 1765 and now:  hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob, apple pie, cold slaw and sometimes clam bakes. 

July 4th or Independence Day:   Foods eaten in the US today could be Hot Dogs aka Frankfurters (German), Hamburgers (German), Corn on the Cob, Root Beer Baked Beans, Gazpacho (Mexican), Lemonade Iced Tea, Blackberry Cocktail, Brown Sugar Fruit Dip, Tomato and Watermelon Salad, Tomato-Mozzarella Basil Salad (Italian), Brown Sugar Fruit Dip, Deviled Eggs, Slaw dogs, Sweet-Hot Baby Back Ribs, Louisiana Crawfish Boil, Mixed Grill with Pesto, Carolina-Style Barbecue Chicken, Fried Chicken, Succotash Salad, Pasta Salad, Grilled Okra and Tomatoes, Raspberry-Banana-Yogurt Freezer Pops, Homemade Ice Cream, Funnel Cakes (Belgian), Fresh Berry Pie and Peach Cobbler (Egyptian galette).

For recipes from 1700s to 1960s and modern day links, visit www.ThePAMeltingPot.com. Christine Willard, a native of western Pennsylvania, researches and blogs about the food unique to western Pennsylvania. She currently resides in North Carolina.

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THE PA MELTING POT - Part 4 - How Ethnic Foods Survived Through Early Mobility - The Kiosk

The kiosk (from Turkish: köşk) was a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward.  SEE PHOTOS OF KIOSKS BELOW. 

Since ancient times, street food vendors have sold foods from kiosks such as in ancient Greece where small fried fish were a street food. Street food was widely consumed by poor urban residents of ancient Rome whose tenement homes did not have ovens or hearths with chickpea soup being one of the common meals along with bread and grain paste. In ancient China, where street foods generally catered to the poor, wealthy residents would send servants to buy street foods and bring meals back for their masters to eat in their homes.

A traveling Italian from Florence reported in the late 1300s that in Cairo, Egyptians carried picnic cloths made of raw hide to spread on the streets and eat their meals of lamb kebabs, rice and fritters that they had purchased from street vendors. In Turkey many crossroads saw vendors selling “fragrant bites of hot meat” including chicken and lamb that had been spit roasted (kebabs).

Aztec marketplaces had vendors that sold beverages such as atolli (“a gruel made from maize dough”), almost 50 types of tamales (with ingredients that ranged from the meat of turkey, rabbit, gopher, frog, and fish to fruits, eggs, and maize flowers) and stews.

After Spanish colonization of Peru and importation of European food stocks like wheat, sugarcane and livestock, most commoners continued primarily to eat their traditional diets, but did add grilled beef hearts sold by street vendors. Some of Lima’s 19th century street vendors such as “Erasmo, the ‘negro’ sango vendor” and “Na Aguedita” (who wrapped herself in woven scarves and dished out foods from stone pots in Lima’s open streets) are still remembered today.

Street foods in Victorian London included tripe, pea soup, pea pods in butter, whelk (snails), prawns and jellied eels. During the American Colonial period, street vendors sold “pepper pot soup, oysters, roasted corn ears, fruit and sweets.”  Many women of African descent made their living selling street foods in early America with products ranging from fruit, cakes and nuts in Savannah, to coffee, biscuits, pralines and other sweets in New Orleans.

The wide-spread ethnicity of western Pennsylvania is truly displayed in The Strip District of Pittsburgh. In the 1900s, there were several street vendors who used immigrant workers to unload the delivery trucks which contained fish, meats, fruits, vegetables and other food items to put on display for sale.

The hungry immigrant workers and truck drivers needed to be fed. One business that morphed from a kiosk to a diner is Primanti’s founded by the Primanti brothers in 1933. The famous take-away sandwich (a meal all by itself) included choice of meat, cheese, tart and crunchy coleslaw and French fries on Italian bread, and was a perfect one-stop shop for the workers.

There are ethnic shops today in the district and The Pittsburgh Public Market continues the tradition of stands, cards, kiosks and the like fill with ethnic foods and goods.

For recipes from 1700s to 1960s and modern day links versions, visit www.ThePAMeltingPot.com.

Christine Willard, a native of western Pennsylvania, researches and blogs about the food unique to western Pennsylvania. She currently resides in North Carolina. Her blog can be found at www.ThePAMeltingPot.com.